Indigenous or Aboriginal rock refers to a style of music which mixes rock music with the instrumentation and singing styles of Indigenous peoples. Two countries with prominent Aboriginal rock scenes are Australia and Canada.
Australian Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander music includes the music of Aboriginal Australians and social, cultural and ceremonial observances of these people, down through the millennia of their individual and collective histories to the present day, and has existed for 40,000 years. The traditional forms include many aspects of performance and musical instrumentation which are unique to particular regions or Indigenous Australian groups; there are equally elements of musical tradition which are common or widespread through much of the Australian continent, and even beyond. The culture of the Torres Strait Islanders is related to that of adjacent parts of New Guinea and so their music is also related. Music is a vital part of Indigenous Australians' cultural maintenance.
Blekbala Mujik are an Australian rock, reggae group formed in Barunga, Northern Territory in 1986. They fused rock and reggae with a pop, dance sound and have support base for their live shows and recordings. They are cited in the World Music: The Rough Guide as next best known to Yothu Yindi. The band sings in English and in Kriol. At the ARIA Music Awards of 1996 their album, Blekbala Mujik, was nominated for Best Indigenous Release.
The National Indigenous Music Awards, previously the NT Indigenous Music Awards up to 2009, are awarded during the Darwin Festival and are run by MusicNT in association with the Northern Territory Government’s Indigenous Arts Development Unit.
Coloured Stone is a band from the Koonibba Mission, west of Ceduna, South Australia. Their sound has been described as having a unique feel and Aboriginal qualities. The band performs using guitar, bass, drums, and Aboriginal instruments – didjeridu, bundawuthada and clap sticks – to play traditional music such as the haunting "Mouydjengara", a whale-dreaming song of the Mirning people.
Bart Willoughby is an Indigenous Australian musician, noted for his pioneering fusion of reggae with Indigenous Australian musical influences, and for his contribution to growth of Indigenous music in Australia.
No Fixed Address is an Australian Aboriginal reggae rock group formed in 1979. The band was led by Bart Willoughby Pitjanjatjara from Koonibba Mission near Ceduna in the far south west of South Australia, together with Ricky Harrison Kurnai from Morwell in Victoria, Leslie Lovegrove Freeman, Ngarrindjeri from Murray Bridge in South Australia, John Miller (bass) from Port Lincoln in South Australia and Veronica Rankine, Ngarrindjeri from the south east of South Australia. Many members were related through family ties, Willoughby, Miller and Freeman were cousins. Freeman, related to Harrison through marriage, recruited him from Victoria and they all met and formed the band at the Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music (CASM) in North Adelaide, South Australia.
North Tanami Band are a reggae/ska band from Lajamanu, a town located about 600 km to the north of Yuendumu. The members are Warlpiri and their songs are sung in Warlpiri and English. They were the subjects of the documentary The Traveling Warlpiris (1992).
Wirrinyga Band are a rock band from Milingimbi, a small island in Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. The band members are Yolngu. They sing in both Language and English and they mix modern instruments with traditional.
Stiff Gins are an Indigenous Australian band from Sydney. They call their music "acoustic with harmonies" and are regularly compared to Tiddas. The band was formed by Emma Donovan, Nardi Simpson and Kaleena Briggs in 1999, after meeting at the Eora Centre while studying music. The band's name uses the word gin with the word stiff to become strong black woman, a name which caused debate about use of the word gin.
Ilkari Maru is a Central Australian Indigenous band from the 1980s. They played country rock music and sing in English and Pitjantjatjara. They released two albums through CAAMA Music, Ilkari Maru (1984) and Lightning Strikes (1987).
Amunda are a rock band from Alice Springs formed in 1985. The band's name is based on Mbantua, the Arrernte word for meeting place, which is associated with the spring at Heavitree Gap in the MacDonnell Ranges at Alice Springs.
Morgan Lewis, known as Morganics, is a Sydney based Hip Hop performer.
"We Have Survived" is a song originally performed by No Fixed Address. It was composed by Bart Willoughby when he was 18. It first appear in the film Wrong Side of the Road and on its soundtrack and was later included on No Fixed Address's album From My Eyes. It has since been included in The Black Arm Bands concert murundak.
Little G is a rapper, actor, dancer, and community activist from Melbourne, Victoria. She is of Aboriginal and Greek descent.
South West Syndicate were an Australian hip-hop collective from Sydney. They started performing in 1992. and have been made up of Aboriginal, Lebanese-Australian, Pacific Islander, Croatian, German and Anglo hip hop artists. Core members include Munkimuk, Brothablack, Nasri Basal, Darren Stacey (Dax) with additional members Nadeena Dixon, Terrance Murphy,Kider, Ebony Williams, Danielle Tuwai, Mohammed Abdullah, Phil Pelia, Safwan Barbour and Fadi Chami.
"Treaty" is a song by Australian indigenous music band Yothu Yindi, which is made up of Aboriginal and balanda (non-Aboriginal) members. Released in June 1991, "Treaty" peaked at No. 11 on the ARIA Singles Chart in September. "Treaty" was the first song by a predominately-Aboriginal band to chart in Australia and was the first song in any Aboriginal Australian language (Yolngu-Matha) to gain extensive international recognition, peaking at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play singles charts.
Aim 4 More was an indigenous Australian band. They released their debut self-titled CD in 1997. They won a Deadly in 1997 for Most Promising New Talent. They were features in the ABC TV show Defining Black.
Wild Water is a band which plays a mix of reggae, rock, dub and funk. They sing in Brarra, Kriol and English. They call their music "saltwater style". Wild Water has toured nationally and released two albums, Baltpa and Rrawa. Members of the band come from around Australia and internationally.
Our Home, Our Land is a compilation album released in Australia by CAAMA in 1995. It was released to celebrate the victory in the Mabo case. It focused on the importance of land to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander beliefs. It was nominated for a 1996 ARIA Award for Best Indigenous Release.
